call for entries

Entry for the 2008 sun awards is open from 1st May to 30th June

ENTRIES are now CLOSED

GBM are offering 3 PRIZES worth £250 each for Photoshop Training to bring your skills up to date with the latest tools and techniques.
The more images you enter, the more chance you have of winning!!

DISCOUNTS for SUN entrants:
Digital Railroad - setup fee waived + 15% on subscription
The FLASH Centre - 25% on equipment hire, for shooting tose potential SUN winners
Camerasure - up to 40% discount on photographic insurance (subject to status)

Please Note: if you registered last year your Login remains valid for 2008 (please update your contact details if necessary)

Before registering, please read all the information on this page.

LOGIN and REGISTRATION open in a new window

Listen to a 10 minute podcast on submitting to the 2007 SUN Awards…
link: Listen to this podcast in iTunes
link: RSS Feed for this podcast

2008 Categories:

• BEST IMAGE - both commissioned and non-commissioned images
• Who can enter - professional photographers*

• BEST USE OF AN IMAGE - images used in context eg… editorial, advertising, packaging
• Who can enter - professional photographers* ALSO open to designers** to nominate a photographer’s* work they have used

• BEST PROMOTION of a PHOTOGRAPHER
  best practice in marketing of a photographer in either printed material or web site
• Who can enter - professional photographers* ALSO open to designers** to nominate a photographer’s* material for which they have been commissioned
• the DIGITAL INNOVATION award - both commissioned and non-commissioned images
• Who can enter - professional photographers*

(*must be based in the northern regions of the UK… from midlands to north of scotland)
(**designer can be based anywhere)

Judging:

A panel of leading figures drawn from across the industry consider all entries and make the awards in each category. see below also

Awards Presentation & Exhibition:

The category awards will be presented on the launch night of the exhibition displaying all the winning entries. This takes place in late autumn.
The exhibition may also tour to other venues around the country.

Book & Web site:

All winning entries also feature in the SUN book and web site.
[All best image submissions also feature in a sub section on the web site]

SUN Special Edition:
Over recent years SUN has developed limited edition print sales. Even if your image doesn’t make it to the final 50 in the awards it can still be selected by our guest curators to be part of the Special Edition. The selected images are specially printed and framed. They are made available for sale at selected gallery venues and online.
The photographer contributes to the cost of print and frame, but these costs are recouped when your image is sold. If it doesn’t sell you keep the print. Profits are split between the artist and the promoters.

The Judging Process:

Judging for the SUN Awards is done anonymously by independent judges selected from leading figures in the industry, under the supervision of adjudicators who audit the process.

In previous years judges have included - Rob Walker, Dave Price, Claire Turner, Jack Lowe, Matt Johnson, Diana Leppard, Andy Balman, Tom Richards, Pete Brandon.

As we are a very small organisation, we must ensure that the Submission and Judging processes are fair and that no interventions can favour any entry.
To accomplish this from 2007 on we have sought the help of independent external verification of everything from the Call for Entries forms, through the collation of entries, to the preparation of images for judging and of course the judging process itself.

The process:-

• Call for Entry invitations and forms are checked and verified prior to launch.
• Received entries are collated following the closing date.
• A copy set of files is prepared with random numbering replacing personal names (a master copy of name+number files is reserved and given to the adjudicator to hold).
• Judging is held in a single session. This is overseen by the independent adjudicator.
• The judging team assembles under the direction of an independent chairman. The chairman’s role is to interpret the competition rules and help the judges through the process. The chairman has no vote.
• Images are eliminated over two rounds until the number is reduced to 100. These go on to further rounds of elimination until the final 50 are reached. From these the top three places are then decided.
• Each category is similarly judged, but in these cases until the final three are derived and placed in winning order.
• Only after all the final results have been recorded, and the adjudicator has been satisfied, are the winning entries matched with their creators names.
• Notifications are sent by email within approximately 10-14 days of judging.

Professional Verification

By entering the SUN Awards all entrants agree that for the purposes of verifying their professional status and location they 1) may be visited by the organisers or their agents 2) and agree to provide supporting evidence on request.
Any entrant who does not meet the criteria will forfeit all fees and other monies and agree to cover all consequential costs which can include reconvening the judging panel and reprinting the SUN book.

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If you have entered the current competition and have a concern about the competition or judging process, please use our contact page to address the adjudicator and they will investigate your query.